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[DE.]

Just now, Tom said:

The rovers website hailed the inspired keeping of Butland, he didn’t do anything I wouldn’t expect Jake Kean to do 

Hah, that's some propaganda. I remember Butland making one save low to his right in the second half, but other than that every shot or header we had was directly into his arms. Walton made better saves over the course of the 90, and as you said in your previous post Stoke actually had better chances than us to score - although both teams were ultimately pretty poor in the final third. You can see why Stoke are where they are, but I imagine after last night a fair few of their fans are wondering how we are where we are.

Edited February 27, 2020 by DE.

[arbitro]

Stoke were good defensively last night but have conceded 53 goals this season although O'Neill looks to have them better organised. The truth is though that we just weren't inventive enough to break them down. The plan seemed to revolve around getting the ball to our full backs and get crosses in. Far to predictable and quite easy to set up against.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Now that our defence has strengthened considerably, our principal weakness is failing to break down teams who are content to play for a point - we have been unlucky in that injuries have deprived us of Dack and Holtby, the two players most likely to unlock opposition defences. Nonetheless despite the gloom and doom brigade doing their best to convince otherwise we are not out of playoff contention yet.

Yes, how dare away teams come to Ewood and attempt to make it difficult for us to score, completely out of order, in fact I think they should do the sporting thing and give us a goal or two start.

As for talk of the play offs it is and always has been completely pie in the sky. It's always "IF we win x, y and z we'll be right in the mix" etc.

We never do, but as suckers we fans fall for it, get briefly excited, then get let down time after time.

However all the "never mind the bad result and performance we'll be ok if we win the next 3" talk does make it sound like Mowbray is doing a far better job than he actually is and keeps us limping down the road to nowhere for a while longer.

[Amo]

2 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Yes, how dare away teams come to Ewood and attempt to make it difficult for us to score, completely out of order, in fact I think they should do the sporting thing and give us a goal or two start.

As for talk of the play offs it is and always has been completely pie in the sky. It's always "IF we win x, y and z we'll be right in the mix" etc.

We never do, but as suckers we fans fall for it, get briefly excited, then get let down time after time.

However all the "never mind the bad result and performance we'll be ok if we win the next 3" talk does make it sound like Mowbray is doing a far better job than he actually is and keeps us limping down the road to nowhere for a while longer.

Like I said, there's a small crew on here who care more about Mowbray's reputation than Rovers progressing.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Amo

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

Yes, how dare away teams come to Ewood and attempt to make it difficult for us to score, completely out of order, in fact I think they should do the sporting thing and give us a goal or two start.

As for talk of the play offs it is and always has been completely pie in the sky. It's always "IF we win x, y and z we'll be right in the mix" etc.

We never do, but as suckers we fans fall for it, get briefly excited, then get let down time after time.

However all the "never mind the bad result and performance we'll be ok if we win the next 3" talk does make it sound like Mowbray is doing a far better job than he actually is and keeps us limping down the road to nowhere for a while longer.

Hope is what sustains football supporters - it has to in a division where only 3 of the 24 clubs will make the promised land - and I don't see any point being a supporter if you won't have room for hope. You and people like you seem to derive next to no pleasure from the experience of supporting our club. But then as Jimmy Armfield once put it "They don't have a crowd at Blackburn, they have a jury."

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, Amo said:

Like I said, there's a small crew on here who care more about Mowbray's reputation than Rovers progressing.

I've never seen anyone on here who thinks like that.

[Amo]

Just now, Mashed Potatoes said:

I've never seen anyone on here who thinks like that.

Pick up the nearest mirror.

[rigger]

On 26/02/2020 at 07:54, JoeH said:

I'll re-phrase. You'd play out of form and out of favour WINGER Harry Chapman as a wing-back? Somewhere he's never played before and luckily somewhere he'll never play in his career either.

 

Rather than play Bell , yes.

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Paul Mani said:

Stoke set up to stop us. It was the best rearguard action I’ve seen in a long time. They succeeded. The end.

Onto the next one. Let’s hope Swansea try to attack us on Saturday or we may be in the same situation again. A win keeps us on track for the 1.8pts per game we need.

The Lenihan loss could be pivotal.

 

We're miles behind a target of 1.8 points per game. If we were on track we'd be on 63 points after 28 games. We're only on 52.

Edit: We also now need more than two points per game from the remaining eleven to get to the normal sort of benchmark of 75 points.

Edited February 27, 2020 by RevidgeBlue

[G Somerset Rover]

11 minutes ago, arbitro said:

Stoke were good defensively last night but have conceded 53 goals this season although O'Neill looks to have them better organised. The truth is though that we just weren't inventive enough to break them down. The plan seemed to revolve around getting the ball to our full backs and get crosses in. Far to predictable and quite easy to set up against.

I posted as much on twitter but we’re crying out for genuine wingers and have been for as long as I can remember. Tony seems to continually think Gallagher is the answer which is baffling in the extreme. Some real width would give us that plan B that we’re craving. Right now that plan B is hoof to Graham’s head for the final 15 mins.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Gavlar Somerset Rover!

[RevidgeBlue]

3 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

Hope is what sustains football supporters - it has to in a division where only 3 of the 24 clubs will make the promised land - and I don't see any point being a supporter if you won't have room for hope. You and people like you seem to derive next to no pleasure from the experience of supporting our club. But then as Jimmy Armfield once put it "They don't have a crowd at Blackburn, they have a jury."

You're quite right I dont enjoy watching us under Mowbray because imo the football is generally dire, in the general scheme of things there's no real sign of progression and  ithere is no hope of ever achieving promotion under this manager.

If you're happy to bob around mid table in the Championship forever without ever really challenging that's your prerogative.

[den9112]

Stoke came for the point and succeeded ...Highlight of the night was having a chat with Bill Beaumont the England Rugby legend ..

[Sparks Rover]

Just now, den9112 said:

Stoke came for the point and succeeded ...Highlight of the night was having a chat with Bill Beaumont the England Rugby legend ..

Mixing with the nobbers. Shame

Edited February 27, 2020 by Sparks Rover

[Mashed Potatoes]

10 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You're quite right I dont enjoy watching us under Mowbray because imo the football is generally dire, in the general scheme of things there's no real sign of progression and  ithere is no hope of ever achieving promotion under this manager.

If you're happy to bob around mid table in the Championship forever without ever really challenging that's your prerogative.

We clearly are progressing - we must be top or very close on a table of the last 19 games. A lot of our players are of an age where it is reasonable to believe that there is significant improvement in them so I see no reason for thinking there is "no hope". Earlier this season you were challenging my opinion that there was no significant likelihood of a relegation struggle this season under Tony Mowbray; I have been proven right over that and continue to be of the view that under the present owners retaining Tony Mowbray as manager is a more likely route to promotion than moving him on.

[RevidgeBlue]

4 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

We clearly are progressing - we must be top or very close on a table of the last 19 games. A lot of our players are of an age where it is reasonable to believe that there is significant improvement in them so I see no reason for thinking there is "no hope". Earlier this season you were challenging my opinion that there was no significant likelihood of a relegation struggle this season under Tony Mowbray; I have been proven right over that and continue to be of the view that under the present owners retaining Tony Mowbray as manager is a more likely route to promotion than moving him on.

Fair comment about the relegation scrap.

Arguably Mowbray has performed slightly better since all the injuries than before as the options available to him have been more restricted and his hand has been forced about trying youngsters etc.

Avoiding a relegation struggle isn't an acceptable yardstick though. And another manager might not waste the vast majority of our annual transfer budget on expensive flops.

 

[roverstdt]

I can completely understand the underwhelmed fans on the results last night. However, i do feel that Michael O'Neil is not given enough credit he has dragged a free feeling Stoke out of the relegation zone and has made them very hard to beat. Their squad have a far higher wage bill than ours as well. Is it 2 points dropped? Of course. I do think it is harsh to judge Gallagher as an expensive flop. Has he set the world alight? No, but at the same time he hasn't been played in his natural position. I do think this season he has just been a step off everything and just hasn't seem himself. The style of play isn't suited either. I think he scored more goals in his first spell due to the long ball tactic. Having looked back he actually scored a fair few with his head. Whether we make the play offs or not i think a huge amount of credit should be given to Tony Mowbray. 3 years in charge, would we have ever imagined being in this position 3 years ago? Probably not. We have stability, exciting prospects and a solid team that we can proud of. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Stoke were set up very well defensively , that was his trademark at NI. They were well drilled and we didn't have the creativity to get through. O'Neill has clearly tried to improve them defensively and I would say they have done a lot of work on this. It was actually a compliment to us they way they turned up. One of the most defensive sides at Ewood in a long time. Rothwell was very,very poor. A frustrating player. He had taken the title of most frustrating from Armstrong. 

I wouldn't exaggerate about us playing badly, I thought we were decent in two thirds of the pitch and totally controlled the game. We just didn't have the speed of thought or guile to fashion any decent openings. A few shots from distance that Butland made look very easy. I'm not sure any keeper would have made them look so easy, his positioning was excellent and he tries to calm the team. 

I think Downing should have been central,with JRC on the wing. We didn't need Johnson last night, he was too slow on the ball. He's good when in a battle away from home. 

Not sure if it's been mentioned,but imagine the scenes if that shot from Nyambe went in. Lordy. I thought it was in. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

41 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

You're quite right I dont enjoy watching us under Mowbray because imo the football is generally dire, in the general scheme of things there's no real sign of progression and  ithere is no hope of ever achieving promotion under this manager.

If you're happy to bob around mid table in the Championship forever without ever really challenging that's your prerogative.

How in gods name can you not acknowledge there is progression? By every barometer we have progressed since Mowbray took over. He's far from perfect,but I just don't get how you can claim we haven't progressed. 

I don't think we will get promoted either,but how is going from relegation,to league 1 to where we are now not progression in and of itself? 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

4 hours ago, arbitro said:

A friend on the bus back home mentioned the lack of X factor and I think that was the nail on the head. We were predictable and sometimes ponderous in possession and in all honesty Stoke were never really stretched. I couldn't understand the selections of Gallagher and Rothwell over Buckley and Samuel. The pace of Samuel has been a feature of the last few games and Mowbrays 'fish out of water' selection policy didn't he'll us on the night. Losing Lenihan is a blow but I would throw Hayden Carter in.

I agree. What you need for these games is a Berkovic type player who can carry the ball into the last third and unbalance teams who park the bus by drawing them out. Rothwell has the ability but not the football savvy or consistency.. That's why he was at Oxford. Buckley would have been a better bet last night.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

How in gods name can you not acknowledge there is progression? By every barometer we have progressed since Mowbray took over. He's far from perfect,but I just don't get how you can claim we haven't progressed. 

I don't think we will get promoted either,but how is going from relegation,to league 1 to where we are now not progression in and of itself? 

What you seem to be forgetting is that people go to Rovers to be entertained. I do anyway. I want to see players do things I could never do as a player. They go to be gotten up out of their seats every now and then. How many waiverers do you think performances like that will attract back to Ewood ? I'd rather knock nails through the back of my hand. The football most of the time is dull, one dimensional, pedestrian, lack lustre, un inspiring and all the other adjectives you can think of. The blame for that lies at the managers door.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[jim mk2]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I agree. What you need for these games is a Berkovic type player who can carry the ball into the last third and unbalance teams who park the bus by drawing them out. Rothwell has the ability but not the football savvy or consistency.. That's why he was at Oxford. Buckley would have been a better bet last night.

Remember Jack Payne a couple of seasons back ?   He had that ability.  I went to the Oxford away match in the promotion season and he was the best player on the pitch by a mile, and presumably why we took note and signed him.  I was surprised he didn't make it with us but the fact he's now languishing in the lower leagues with Lincoln City shows what I know. 

[jim mk2]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

What you seem to be forgetting is that people go to Rovers to be entertained. I do anyway. I want to see players do things I could never do as a player. They go to be gotten up out of their seats every now and then. How many waivers do you think performances like that will attract back to Ewood ? I'd rather knock nails through the back of my hand. The football most of the time is dull, one dimensional, pedestrian, lack lustre, un inspiring and all the other adjectives you can think of. The blame for that lies at the managers door.

Hmmm. I'll take  the points first and entertainment second. That's why I always liked Sam Allardyce !  Agree about Mowbray though

[stinny1]

The balance  of the team was off last night . The need for paces down both wings showed up again  last night positive the defence as tightened  up over the last few months and Nyambe as become one of the best right back in the championship

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

What you seem to be forgetting is that people go to Rovers to be entertained. I do anyway. I want to see players do things I could never do as a player. They go to be gotten up out of their seats every now and then. How many waivers do you think performances like that will attract back to Ewood ? I'd rather knock nails through the back of my hand. The football most of the time is dull, one dimensional, pedestrian, lack lustre, un inspiring and all the other adjectives you can think of. The blame for that lies at the managers door.

Separate issue. The post you responded to was discussing progression

Anyway,ya I agree that generally we are a tough watch,but we have played some decent stuff on occasion and I'm pretty sure you couldn't score some of the goals that Armstrong has scored. Teams have been promoted paying a far less possession based game than we play. If we went up,I doubt anyone would care about the football. 

So,if the manager is responsible for the play,which of course he is, is he responsible for bringing us to the cusp of the play offs?

[Mashed Potatoes]

27 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Fair comment about the relegation scrap.

Arguably Mowbray has performed slightly better since all the injuries than before as the options available to him have been more restricted and his hand has been forced about trying youngsters etc.

Avoiding a relegation struggle isn't an acceptable yardstick though. And another manager might not waste the vast majority of our annual transfer budget on expensive flops.

 

Fair enough. We disagree on some things but you are courteous in your responses.